Jury selection begins in trial of 2 men accused in murder of Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay

Jury selection begins Monday in the trial of two men charged in the 2002 murder of Jason Mizell, better known as Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC.

Ronald Washington, 59, is charged alongside Karl Jordan, 40, who was 18 when he allegedly gunned down Mizell in a Queens recording studio in October 2002.

On October 30, 2002, Mizell and several others were present at his recording studio, 24/7 Studio, located on Merrick Boulevard in Queens. According to prosecutors, at approximately 7:30 p.m., Washington and Jordan, entered the studio, both brandishing firearms.

Washington allegedly pointed his firearm at one of the individuals located inside the studio and demanded that the person lie on the floor, authorities have said. Jordan approached Mizell, pointed his firearm at him and fired two shots at close range, according to officials. One of those shots struck Mizell in the head, killing him. The second shot struck another individual in the leg.

Jordan and Washington were charged with murdering Jam Master Jay while engaged in cocaine trafficking, according to the indictment from the Eastern District of New York that also charged the two with drug offenses, ABC reported in 2020.

Jordan was arrested in 2020 after allegedly attempting to sell drugs to an undercover law enforcement officer.

Washington was in prison on a prior robbery case when he was indicted.

Both have pleaded not guilty.

Police never released a motive for Jam Master Jay's killing, but federal prosecutors said as they indicted Washington and Jordan in 2020 that the motive for the killing resulted from Jay's previous acquisition of approximately 10 kilograms of cocaine from a narcotics supplier in the Midwest.

The cocaine was allegedly intended to be distributed in Maryland by Washington, Jordan and other co-conspirators, prosecutors previously said.

The jury chosen in Brooklyn federal court to hear the case will be anonymous. Opening statements are scheduled for January 29.

A third person -- Jay Bryant -- was also charged in the murderof the hip-hop star in May 2023. His lawyer successfully argued for his case to be severed from the other two. He has pleaded not guilty.

Mizell was shot in the head at point-blank range with a .40-caliber handgun as he sat on a sofa in a Hollis, Queens, recording studio on Oct. 30, 2002, police previously said.